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19AUG03 - HVFULLSC.TXT - The "Full Screen" HVFont Package
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The HVFULLSC.ZIP file contains the files necessary to install the Full Screen
versions of ProCon's Hi-Visibility HVFont.

The package is designed to improve productivity - and make life easier - for
those who use a PC or terminal in "full screen" mode. These modes include:-

  MS-DOS itself,
  True MS-DOS "Mode" (Windows 95/98),
  MS-DOS Full Screen "Boxes" (any Windows version),
  Full Screen Terminal modes (Window's NT/2000/XP), and
  Unix, Linux, AS/400, etc., Terminal modes.

The Licenced version of the package allows users to work with high
visibility, legible VGA terminal fonts - based on ProCon's HVFont design -
rather than the spidery and anaemic OEM Codepage 437 fonts supplied by most
video card BIOS - and via Windows' Codepage Information (CPI) files.

The Evaluation version provides a subset of the files to allow potential
users to evaluate the package.


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A Short History of the Full Screen VGA OEM Fonts
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The so called "hardware" OEM fonts were originally provided as part of the
ROM BIOS in the computer's video card. The font designs were based on the
original MDA, CGA, EGA and VGA fonts supplied in IBM's PC, PC/XT, PC/AT and
PS/2 computers.

IBM created an extended "symbol set" by expanding the standard U.S. ASCII 7
bit list from 128 glyphs to 256 glyphs (8 bits). This allowed them to include
some foreign currency symbols, box drawing characters, mathematical symbols
and a subset of the special alphabetic characters used in languages like
Greek, German, French and Spanish.

This "PC8 Symbol Set" - the common "Codepage 437" - did not provide full
character support for languages other than English. While the fonts in video
cards could be - and often were - customised to suit particular languages, a
more general solution was required.

MS-DOS 3.3 eventually provided CPI Files ("Codepage Information Files") that
could be loaded into memory at boot time to adapt - or replace - the standard
keyboard mapping, and the PC8 screen and printer fonts to make the PC more
"multilingual".

Full screen fonts are stored as bitmaps in memory. Several font sizes are
provided. The most important is 8x16 (8 pixels wide, 16 pixels high), but 8x8
and 8x14 fonts are also common. The actual sizes are a byproduct of the
history of video card resolutions. In modern PCs, they allow the standard VGA
640x480 pixel resolution to support an 80 character wide display with a user
specified number of text lines (usually 25, 28, 30, 40, 43, or 50).


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Why are the built in fonts so difficult to read on screen?
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Unfortunately, the original font designs were optimised for printed output
rather than screen display. Their continued use on screens is an anachronism
as virtually all printing is now done with a built-in printer font or Windows
GDI font.

These fonts leave much to be desired - particularly for full screen users
faced with extensive data entry tasks.

This poor screen legibility is a particular problem for users with impaired
vision - or for anyone working in poor light conditions or using laptops.

Before we can replace these fonts with a better alternative, we must know
which fonts the PC is currently using.


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Which set of VGA OEM Fonts is my PC Using?
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If you have never customised your system to load a CPI file (like most English
speaking PC users) - you might assume that your PC only uses fonts from the
video card in full screen modes.

If the PC is running MS-DOS - or Windows 95/98/Me - that will be correct.

However, Windows NT/2000/XP only uses its video BIOS fonts in 16 bit modes.
(This is during the boot process and when running NTVDM.EXE, the NT virtual
DOS machine that 32 bit Windows launches to run COMMAND.COM and MS-DOS
applications). CMD.EXE - the standard shell used in NT Console modes - is a 32
bit program - and does not use 16 bit mode unless it runs a DOS program.

Windows NT/2000/XP automatically loads a CPI file - usually EGA.CPI from the
System32 subdirectory. (If you examine the list of open "handles" you will
find that it keeps this file - something like C:\WINNT\System32\EGA.CPI - open
whilever it is running.)

MS-DOS and Windows 95/98/Me can also use CPI files - but the commands to
prepare the display and load the CPI file must be explicitly given in the
CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files. Then you will only see the video ROM
fonts as the machine boots.


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Changing the OEM VGA Full Screen Fonts
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You can temporarily change the full screen fonts by loading a new font image 
into memory where the PC stores these fonts. ProCon's utility HVDOSFNT.COM - a 
TSR ("Terminate & Stay Resident") program - included in this package takes 
this approach. It can be run each time a console window or DOS Box is opened. 
(While this is usually automated using a batch file it may not always be 
convenient to do this). 

A more permanent solution is to change the fonts by using a special CPI file;
replace the "hardware" fonts in the Video BIOS; or both.

Instruction for installing CPI files - and a special CPI file conatining the 
HVFont - are included in the HVCPIFNT package. 

Instruction for replacing the VGA fonts in Video Cards are given in the
HVVCBIOS package.


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Files included in the HVFULLSC.ZIP Package
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The ZIP archive file should contain the following files:-

  Documentation Files
    HVFULLSC.TXT - This file

  VGA FNT Utilities
    SHOWVGAS.EXE - Console Utility to show characters in VGA FNT file
    SHOWVGAS.TXT - Documentation for SHOWVGAS

  FNT Binary Image Files
    ---------------------------------------------------
    The LICENCED version contains these 6 files:
    ---------------------------------------------------
       HV8X8.FNT - 8x8  HVFont (Dotted space)
      HV8X14.FNT - 8x14 HVFont (Dotted space)
      HV8X16.FNT - 8x16 HVFont (Dotted space)
    ---------------------------------------------------
     HV8X8-B.FNT - 8x8  HVFont (BLANK space)
    HV8X14-B.FNT - 8x14 HVFont (BLANK space)
    HV8X16-B.FNT - 8x16 HVFont (BLANK space)
    ---------------------------------------------------
    The EVALUATION version contains these 3 files:
    ---------------------------------------------------
     HV8X8-Z.FNT - 8x8  HVFont (A "Dyslexic" version.)
    HV8X14-Z.FNT - 8x14 HVFont (Random characters are)
    HV8X16-Z.FNT - 8x16 HVFont (mirror imaged)

  ZIP Archives
    HVDOSFNT.ZIP - The HVFont as a DOS TSR Program
    HVCPIFNT.ZIP - The HVFont CPI Package
    HVVCBIOS.ZIP - The HVFont Video Card BIOS Package

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